Whitcun Media

Over the years I slowly became aware of the crypto currency exchange FTX, while crypto currency investing seemingly required an IT degree –  FTX made it look simple.  It seemed like an easy and fun way to get into crypto currency investments. Though I, myself never invested in the exchange there was a certain aura around the company which made it look tempting. Sam Bankman-Fried was by all accounts an ethical Billionaire who was young, innovative, a complete genius and, going to make the World infinitely better.  To the outside world what could possibly go wrong?
 
There were signs before November 2022 that things weren’t all well within the exchange. However, if you asked someone on Reddit or Twitter just two weeks before the crash about what they thought, the person quite likely would tell you that the exchange was only going to grow. Life however has a sick sense of humour and only a couple of weeks later it all came to a standstill. Investors panicked and the exchange had a run on of funds, unlike bank runs previously seen in history but this was all online and on a mobile phone app.  There were no crowds at the bank counter but accounts were frozen. The question being asked by experts and investors alike was well, How? How did such a big company, successful company collapse and what (if any) were the warning signs? 
 
I had found my next passion!
 
In January 2023, I started the development for a small educational documentary. What I wanted however, was for it to be about something other than the juicy scandals that were seeping salaciously out. While Sam Bankman-Fried was indeed a little odd, there was far more interesting details coming out behind the scenes than the click bait headlines.
 
It was April before any scripting had happened. While there were many things about it that could have made a documentary – I didn’t want to rush a film out. Especially, as the full picture never seemed to be truly in sight. There was a lot of conflicting information which was troublesome as I wanted the film to be as accurate as possible. Some of the court documents were hundreds of pages long and absolutely filled to the brim with information but even that needed to be verified elsewhere. 
 
Trial and error begun.  Every time the team felt like the film could come out a new development appeared which changed the narrative again. It turned out that making a documentary about this subject was less like writing a story and more like piecing together hundreds, if not thousands of different conflicting sources together like a jigsaw. After what felt like countless late nights and weekends, working around my full time job finally a full picture started to form. 
 
It was late September by the time that something approaching a film was made, I spoke to a few accountants about what I had found and it started to feel unique and interesting. Thanks to my mum (who is a trained accountant) she agreed to speak about the exchange on camera, it really helped to legitimise the documentary and also breathe some life into what can be considered a bit of a dry subject. 
 
However, it didn’t feel right to just have the opinions of academics in the film.  I wanted to get the perspective from regular people who may or may not have invested in crypto currency but who’s opinions matter. The FX6 I had rented for the project was burning a hole in my pocket and I wanted to make the most of the hire period. The Whiteladies Road Farmers Market proved to be the best place to film and I was very grateful that they allowed me shove a camera in a bunch of strangers faces! Special thanks as well to the Bristol Film Office.
 
We found something out while filming which ultimately affected how long we could film.  Megan, my girlfriend had been putting on a brave face in the morning to help out with the filming for my sake however even I started to pick up that everything wasn’t right. In fact she had been leaving every now and again, though I didn’t know why and was preoccupied with the public.  Eventually she had to admit she was talking to her mum about her Grandad. As it turns out he had a fall late the night before and he was going into hospital by ambulance. Her mum had been with him all night long until the paramedics arrived mid-morning but she hadn’t told me so I wasn’t distracted and could get done what I needed. Understandably, now there was a bigger priority than filming all day so we packed up our kit just before lunch (after 3 hours filming) and headed into the hospital.  We arrived just after Meg’s Grandad. It became a long day, to what was already a long day, but it wasn’t without its humour that of course comes from many hospital dashes that we’ve (and particularly she has) done before.  And with Meg’s Grandad, who I adore, there’s never a dull moment.  Thankfully within a few weeks he was back home, causing mischief.
 
While it may have been tempting to leave the voice as mine it wouldn’t have really helped out the film. I had met Savannah Betts, an actor with a wonderful transatlantic voice that I knew would sit well on the film.  I approached and thankfully she agreed to the VO and her voice made the script come alive.  
 
Over the next month, I finalised a 54 minute film, though at times it felt it would never be complete.  With just a week before Christmas, I approached Indie Rights (my first choice of distributor) and to my delight Indie Rights had picked up the film.  We could not believe it.  The news made our Christmas and quite frankly, our New Year too!  We went out for a special date night and toasted the moment with west country cider, burgers and dirty fries.
 
Sam Bankman-Fried has been convicted of fraud in late 2023 and this week is expected to be sentenced.  With the heightened awareness surrounding FTX, Alameda Research and of course Bankman-Fried (and his FTX colleagues) I hope you will watch and enjoy the documentary but if you take anything away from it I hope it’s the nuts and bolts of good business practice and the understanding of what really went wrong at FTX and how you as an individual/ potential investor can make better decisions with your hard earner cash. 
 
I really hope the documentary is interesting for you, if you can please rate and leave an honest review – that would mean a lot.  We were thrilled to receive 8/10 from Alan Ng at FilmThreat and appreciated the good review.  Our hope is to make another film this year and this time I’m hoping Meg will help me from the start to make production smoother. 

Amazon Link USA: https://tinyurl.com/WMBFTXUS

Amazon Link UK: https://tinyurl.com/Amazon-WMB-FTX